Brush-holder



S. C. MCKEOWN.

BRUSH HLDER.

APPucATloN FILED MAY|.1919.

1,323,888. Patented Deo. 2,1919.

INVENTURA/ jF/MUEL EM: EDN

BY MW A TTORNE narran srnrns PATENT onnion.

SAMUEL C. MGKEOWN, OF EAST CRiNGE, NEVI JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO SPLITDORFELECTRICAL GOMA-TY, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

BRUSH-HOLDER.

1,323,888. Original application filed September 25,

To all Lc/wm, t may] concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL C. MCKnowN, a citizen of the United States,and resident of East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brush-Holders, of which the following is a specili- 'cation My inventionrelates to brush holders for electrical apparatus used in connectionwith ignition systems for internal combustion engines.

My inventionl is particularly adapted for use in connection with amagneto used 'for the purpose of producing and distributing sparkingcurrent to the sparking devices located in the various engine cylinders.Magnetos used for this purpose usually have a distributer block whichcarries the contacts to which the spark plug wires are attached; at thesame time the block acts as a housing for the distributing finger whichserves as a medium for conducting current from the secondaryY of thehigh tension coil to the various distributer points by way of adistributer brush carried by the distributing disk or linger. Y

In order that the brush carried by the rotating distributing finger maybe kept in its proper working position a spring of some kind is utilizedto continually force the brush outward from its retainer and when theblock is removed for any purpose whatsoever, the distributer brush willpop out of its retainer unless restrained by some means.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a brush holder whichhas a restraining means suitable for retaining the brush in the holderwhen the distributer block has been removed. i

Another object of my invention is to provide a retainer which will serveas a means for withdrawing the brush from the holder itself wherebydamage to the brush and its operating spring is reduced to a minimum.That is to say, the retainer acts as a protector for the brush andspring.

These and other objects will be apparent to one skilled in the art aftera study of this specification in connection with the drawing, in which-Figure 1 is a fragmentary sectional View of a portion of a dstrbuterblock with the Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Deo. 2, 1919.

1917, Serial No. 193,119. Divided and this application filed May 1,

1919. Serial No. 294,067.

distributing finger and means for driving the same.

Fig. 2shows the brush holder and retainer partly withdrawn from theholder.

Referring now particularly to the details, 1 is a portion of the endplate of a magneto within which is mounted a ball bearing 2 that carriesa distributer gear 3. Gear 3 is driven in the usual way from the pinion'on the armature or rotor of the magneto but since vthis is all old andwell understood and forms no part of my invention further description ofthis part of the-magneto does not appear necessary. The sleeve 4 towhich the gear 3 is attached carries an insulating linger 5 having astem 6 in which is molded a metal insert 7, which carries a brush 8 forpurpose of collecting the high tension current from any suitableconnecting device. Preferably molded integrally with the finger 5 is abrush holder 9 adapted to carry a retainer 10. The retainer 10 isindented along one side at 11 which indentation serves as a guide forthe brush 12 which has a groove 13 to coact with the guide 11. Thebrush. holder 9 also has an indentation 14 that matches with indentation11 of the retainer so that the retainer 10 is guided in the brush holder9. The bottom part of the retainer 1() has an indentation 16 which actsto form a seat for the spring 18, the upper end of which is held inoperative relationship with the brush 12 by a projection 15. The spring18 serves to hold the brush 12 in a position'such that the shoulder 17is always engaged by the hook 24 formed on one side of the retainer 10.This side has a slight set at 25 so that when the retainer is withdrawnfrom the holder the hook 24 will spring outward as shown in Fig. 2whereby the brush 12 may be readily withdrawn from the retainer. By thisconstruction the brush, retainer and holder have grooves and guidewayssimilar to that shown in my (zo-pending application S. N. 193,119, filedSeptember 25, 1917, of which this application is a division.

As shown in Fig. 1 the spring 18 holds the brush 12 in normalworkingposition, in which the end of the brush 12 runs against the pathway ofthe distributer block 19 in which are molded a number of inserts 20corresponding to the number of engine cylinders required to be served bythe magneto. The Wires running from the distributer block 19 to theengine cylinders are connected to the contacts 20 b means of theopenings 21 and screws passmg through the threaded holes 22. Thedistributer block 19, as shown, has other Contact points 23 but sincethese form no part of my present invention they are not furtherdescribed herein.

It Will be understood that numerous changes may be made in the detailsof my invention Without de arting from the spirit of my invention an thescope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. In a device of theclass described, a brush having a shouldered portion and a channeltherein, a retainer for the brush and having a guide adapted tocooperate with the channel, a holder for the retainer and having a guidetherefor, a spring supported in the retainer for moving the brushoutward as the same Wears, said retainer having a hook-shaped memberadapted to be brought into the path of movement of the shoulderedportion of the brush to limit its outward movement, when the retainer isinserted all the way into the holder as described.

2. In a device of the class described a brush having a shoulderedportion and a channel therein, a retainer for the brush and having aguide adapted to coperate with the channel, a holder for the retainerand having a guide therefor, a spring supported in the retainer formoving the brush outward as the same Wears, said retainer havin aresilient portion terminating in a hoo adapted to engage, when theretainer is in Working position in the holder, the shouldered portion ofthe brush to limit its outward movement, as described.

In Witness whereof I afiix my signature.

SAMUEL C. MCKEOWN.

